Pages: 1 2 Throughout the ancient tale that spawned from even older oral traditions in the Middle East, in “Thousand and One Nights”, Shahrazad occupies not only the position of storyteller, but of teacher. Throughout “Thousand and One Nights” she relates ideas about violence, jealousy, and misogyny in the hopes of exposing these wrongs to Shahryar. While never appearing to taking an authoritative role, since she maintains the appearance of entertaining instead of instructing in “Thousand and One Nights” many valuable lessons are espoused and although the King is clearly entertained, it is hoped that the messages behind her stories are not falling on deaf ears. To suggest that Shahrazad has a clearly visible theme she wishes to express (i.e. feminism, religion, the corruption of power) she touches on a number of issues through vignettes in “Thousand and One Nights” that are meant to instruct just as they are to entertain. The modern reader of “Thousand and One Nights” may wish to project a feminist agenda onto the stories she tells, but this would be a fallacy since several of her tales include graphic and rather misogynistic descriptions and messages.

Still, however, Shahrazad offers a balanced picture of human wrong in “Thousand and One Nights” and attempts to expose the wrongs of both sexes equally. While she tries throughout her nights with the king to make him see some of the errors of his ways, the reader must not forget that in “Thousand and One Nights” it is stated in a piece of literary criticism that, “Shahrazad’s role as a teacher is neither declared, nor predefined, nor articulated in the process, but hidden behind her role as storyteller and entertainer” (Naithani 277). Armed with this way of reading the text—as something of a “mirror for princes”—it becomes possible to view Shahrazad’s tales as lessons on certain social ills and moreover, attempt to define her as a heroine. When the reader is introduced to Shahrazad in The Thousand and One Nights, it is learned that she “pursued books, annals, and legends of preceding Kings…She had pursued the works of poets and knew them by heart…studied philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplishments (Burton 15).

This description stands in stark contrast to the previous portrayals of women in The Thousand and One Nights of how Shahryar came to hate women and immediately sets the reader up for expecting something more from this woman (who unlike the women mentioned up until this point, is actually granted a name). After learning about her education, which it is implied has come from self-teaching and a personal love of learning, it is exposed that she is strong-willed and unwilling to relent to male pressure. For example, her father tells her the story of the man who could speak the language of animals and how he “dealt with” his wife. He relates that after the man beat his wife, she kissed his hand and feet and he led her out of the room, submissive, as a wife should be. Her parents and all the company rejoiced and sadness and mourning were changed into joy and gladness. Thus the merchant learnt family discipline from his Cock and he and his wife lived together the happiest of lives until death” (Burton 14). Although this is the case of a wife and husband, the fact remains that a father’s control over a daughter is much the same.

Her father threatens her with equal treatment (being beaten into submission) but instead of bending under his will, she responds in true heroic fashion, “I wish thou wouldst give me in marriage to this King Shahryar; either I shall live or I shall be a ransom for the virgin daughters of Moslems and the cause of their deliverance” (Burton 15). What is perhaps most striking about this statement is that she is implying that there is a feminist motivation to her potentially deadly altruistic action. Strangely however, while one might expect this set-up to lead into a series of feminist tales, her first few stories are about the typical evil and unfaithful wife. While it has been mentioned that her tales are meant to serve as entertaining instruction, one must wonder why Shahrazad, with these feminist underpinnings spurning her action, does not engage in less misogynistic tales at the beginning. Shahrazad is quite the fearless hero throughout the course of Thousand Nights and while this may extend to her refusal to submit to male authority, it does not encompass her choices of tales to tell the clearly misogynistic king.

If it is in fact her aim to teach the king lessons, given her previous behavior, one might expect her tales to have a more recognizable feminist motivation. As it is, she relates tales about women who do wrong by their husbands, use magic to trick men, and like the woman who threatens to awake the genie if the two kings don’t have sex with her, engage in sexual power-plays. One critic pointed out the potential foolishness of Shahrazad’s choice of tales by stating, Even the very first story, The Merchant and the Jinni, introduces the theme of wicked wives, which renders it an unsuitable or, in the case of a wife having intercourse with a black slave, even tactless choice by a woman in such a dangerous situation as Shahrazad’s” (Enderwitz 188). While Enderwitz may be correct in assuming that this is a dangerous choice, it has been overlooked that Shahrazad rejects the idea that men pose a threat to her. If that is not quite the case then at least she has some feeling of her ability to soothe their anger—with words rather than sexual appeals.

Perhaps by mirroring the king’s interactions with women in her tales, even if the woman is in the wrong, there is still some displaced lesson being taught, even if it is merely that there are some women deserving of punishment while there are also others who should have the right to fair treatment. The Arabian Nights: One Thousand and One Nights Characters | GradeSaver Buy Study Guide Shahrayar In "The Frame Story," he rules over the kingdom of India and begins the practice of marrying wives and killing them the next morning until Scheherazade begins to tell him stories every night. Brother to Shahzaman. Shahzaman In "The Frame Story," he rules over the kingdom of Samarkand and reveals to his brother Shahrayar that his wife is cheating on him. Scheherazade Scheherazade is the primary storyteller of The Arabian Nights, according to "The Frame Story." The daughter of Shahrayar's vizier, she marries the king and tells him stories every night to keep him from killing her or any more of his wives. She is renowned for both her talent and beauty.

Dinarzad In "The Frame Story," she is Scheherazade's younger sister who asks for the stories that then keep Scheherazade alive. Aladdin The title character of "Aladdin's Lamp," he is a poor street child who becomes rich after fooling a magician and procuring a genie's lamp. He eventually marries the sultan's daughter. the sultan In "Aladdin's Lamp," this sultan grants Aladdin his daughter's hand after the boy conjures up so much wealth via the genie. He later threatens Aladdin when the magician steals the castle and princess. the beautiful princess In "Aladdin's Lamp," the title character marries her after impressing the sultan with his wealth. Though kidnapped by the magician, she is eventually rescued. the magician In "Aladdin's Lamp," he tricks Aladdin into fetching the magic lamp for him, but Aladdin tricks him in return and takes it for himself. He is killed when he later tries to steal it back, inspiring his brother to then seek revenge. the magician's brother In "Aladdin's Lamp," this villain is even more vengeful than his brother.

After the magician's death, he disguises himself as a well-known holy woman in order to get into Aladdin's palace. Ali Baba The title character of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," he discovers the secret treasure cave of the forty thieves, which makes an enemy of the thief captain. Brother to Cassim, and later owner of Morgiana. Cassim In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," he is Aladdin's brother. He greedily enters the cave after learning of it from Ali Baba, but is caught by the thieves and then killed. Captain of the Thieves In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," he leads the band of criminals, and tries several times to murder Ali Baba after the man finds their hiding place. He is eventually outsmarted by Morgiana. Morgiana In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," she is Cassim's slave who is later transferred to Ali Baba after her master's death. The cleverest character in the story, she is responsible for foiling the Thief Captain's plan.

Baba Mustapha In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," he is the cobbler whom Morgiana blindfolds when trying to hide the truth of Cassim's death. The thieves later use him to find Ali Baba's house. Caliph Harun al-Rashid The ruler in many of the Arabian Nights stories. In "The Three Apples," he demands Ja'far find the woman's killer, and later pardons the young man. In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," Sinbad brings him gifts from the King of Serendip, and the caliph later reciprocates. Ja'far In "The Three Apples," he is Caliph Harun al-Rashid's vizier. He solves the mystery at the threat of execution. the young husband In "The Three Apples," he kills his wife, mistakenly believing she was unfaithful. He is later pardoned after asking to be killed for his crime. the old father In "The Three Apples," he is the father of the young woman who was murdered. He lies to protect his son-in-law, but the young husband ultimately proves his own guilt.

Ja'far's slave In "The Three Apples," he receives one of the rare apples and then lies about it, thereby leading to the woman's murder. He is spared at Ja'far's behest. the impoverished porter In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," this poor man stumbles upon the sailor Sinbad, and hears one of his stories each night of the week, before receiving money from the wealthy sailor. (In some versions of The Arabian Nights, he is known as Hindbad.) Sinbad A wealthy sailor who has gone on seven voyages as a merchant and faced many trials and tribulations until he finally chose to settle down with his riches. King Mihrage In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," he is king of the first island on which Sinbad is shipwrecked, and shows him great hospitality. the cannibal giant In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," this creature wreaks havoc on Sinbad's third voyage, eating much of the crew before Sinbad comes up with an escape plan.

Old Man of the Sea In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," this villainous, enchanted creature latches onto Sinbad's back in his fifth journey, forcing the sailor to carry him around to fruitful trees, in the process draining the sailor's energy. Sinbad has to get the old man drunk to free himself. King of Serendib In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," this generous ruler welcomes Sinbad to his island on the sixth journey, and then sends him back with gifts for the caliph. Sinbad's merchant master In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," he buys Sinbad as slave after a shipwreck on the seventh voyage, and uses him to kill elephants for ivory. When Sinbad finds the elephant graveyard, the master is happy enough to set the sailor free. chief merchant's daughter In the alternate version of the seventh voyage of "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," she marries Sinbad and later returns home with him from the land of the bird-people. the old fisherman In "The Fisherman and the Jinni," this poor man releases a genie from a yellow pot, and then must outsmart the spirit to save his life.

He also tells the story of "The Vizier and the Sage Duban." Duban In "The Vizier and the Sage Duban, this wise sage heals King Yunan's leprosy, but is killed when King Yunan's vizier plots against him. King Yunan In "The Vizier and the Sage Duban," this ruler is cured of his leprosy by the wise man Duban, but then executes the doctor after being fooled by his vizier. King Yunan's vizier In "The Vizier and the Sage Duban," this evil, unsightly man plots against Duban, and causes trouble for both the wise man and Yunan himself. Hussein Hussein is the oldest of the three princes in "The Three Princes and the Princess Nouronnihar". He purchases a magic carpet that can transport him wherever he chooses. Ali Ali is the middle of the three princes in "The Three Princes and the Princess Nouronnihar." He purchases an ivory tube that can show the user anything he wishes.

Ahmed Ahmed is the youngest of the princes in "The Three Princes and the Princess Nouronnihar." He purchases an enchanted artificial apple that can heal even the worst sickness with one sniff. The Great Sultan of India In "The Three Princes and the Princess Nouronnihar," he devises the competition for his sons (the princes) to take, and ultimately lauds them for working together. Father to Hussein, Ali, and Ahmed; uncle to Nouronnihar. Nouronnihar In "The Three Princes and the Princess Nouronnihar," she is niece to the Great Sultan, and cousin to the three princes who compete for her hand. Shahrayar's vizier In "The Frame Story," he is Shahrayar's advocate sent to Samarkand to invite Shahzaman to visit India. the demon In "The Frame Story," he traps a beautiful woman, who then sleeps around as much as possible to scorn him. His misfortune encourages Shahrayar and Shahzaman on their quest to find someone more miserable than they are.

the demon's woman In "The Frame Story," this woman is trapped in a glass chest by a demon, but sleeps around as much as possible (including with Shahrayar and Shahzaman) to scorn the demon. the young man's wife In "The Three Apples," she was falsely accused of infidelity by Ja'far's slave, and was murdered because of it. Sinbad's captain In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," several captains accidentally leave Sinbad behind, usually to come across him later apologetically. the horsegroom In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," this man serves King Mihrage and brings Sinbad to the king after the sailor helps him save a drowning mare. the giant's mate In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," this creature throws rocks at the fleeing crew after they kill the cannibal giant, leaving only a few of the men alive. the wealthy king In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," this ruler offers Sinbad a beautiful wife on his fourth voyage, not revealing that the sailor has to be buried alive with the woman after she dies according to local custom.

Sinbad's island wife In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," Sinbad marries this woman on his fourth voyage, only to then discover he must be buried alive with her according to local custom. Cassim's wife In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," she lends Ali Baba's wife a rigged scale and thereby learns the secret of their wealth. Ali Baba's wife In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," she desires to weigh the gold Ali Baba steals, so borrows a scale from Cassim's wife, which the latter woman rigs to discover their secret. Ali Baba's son In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," he is fooled by the Captain of the Thieves into inviting the villain to dinner at Ali Baba's house. Aladdin's mother The title character's mother in "Aladdin's Lamp," she supports his almost-fatal trip with the magician, and later helps Aladdin carry out his plan to marry the sultan's daughter. the sultan's greedy vizier In "Aladdin's Lamp," this man convinces the sultan to postpone the princess's marriage to Aladdin so his own son can woo her. He succeeds, but Aladdin then manages to break up the marriage.

the curious sultan In "The Fisherman and the Jinni," this ruler is intrigued by the mystery of the colorful fish and investigates to discover and free the sad prince. the vizier's son In "Aladdin's Lamp," he marries the beautiful princess thanks to his father's scheming, but then loses his marriage because of Aladdin's magic. the ring jinn In "Aladdin's Lamp," he is the spirit conjured by the magician's ring, and less powerful than the lamp jinn. the lamp jinn In "Aladdin's Lamp," he is the spirit conjured by the lamp Aladdin steals for the magician, and is more powerful than the ring jinn. the hairy men In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," these hairy, two-feet tall savages steal the ship on which Sinbad is serving, leaving the crew stranded on the island with the cannibal giant. the naked savages In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," these men drug Sinbad's crew on his fourth journey, all in anticipation of eating them. Sinbad refuses to take their drugs.

the bird-people In "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," these people welcome Sinbad to their community in the alternate version of the final voyage, but prove to be demons whom he must escape. the pot jinni In "The Fisherman and the Jinni," this spirit is released by the old fisherman after having been trapped inside a yellow jar by King Solomon of the Jinns for hundreds of years. Though he initially wishes to punish the fisherman, he is outsmarted and ultimately grants him a boon. the sad prince In "The Fisherman and the Jinni," this prince had been turned half-way to stone, but is released through the help of the curious sultan. Interview: Hanan al-Shaykh, Author Of 'One Thousand And One Nights' : NPR Independent Booksellers The stories of One Thousand and One Nights are among the world's most famous works of literature. They start with a king who discovers that his wife is having an affair. In a fit of rage, he has her executed.

Lebanese author Hanan al-Shaykh explains what happens next: "From that night, he decreed a law that he will marry a virgin every single day and deflower her at night, and then kill her at dawn," al-Shaykh tells NPR's Rachel Martin. The killing continues until Scheherazade, the daughter of the king's vizier, offers herself as the king's bride. "She had a plan," al-Shaykh says, "a very eloquent and very civilized plan to use her art to humanize him and stop this bloodbath." Every night, Scheherazade starts telling the king a story, then stops at a crucial moment, just as dawn breaks. The king spares her life so he can hear the rest of the story the next night. Scheherazade and her stories have become a touchstone of Arab culture, passed down orally for centuries, put to paper in countless editions and even serialized for the radio. That's where al-Shaykh first heard them as a child.

Article continues after sponsorship "I was smitten," she says, "but at the same time I was exasperated because I really wanted her to poison him and finish with that." Al-Shaykh has just published a modern retelling of One Thousand and One Nights, a project that began when British director Tim Supple asked her to adapt those stories for the stage. Interview Highlights On how she became interested in One Thousand and One Nights after initially seeing it as outdated "I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, and all the characters around, especially the women, were very crafty and very intelligent, and they had a way to deal with life. And I thought they [were] more or less like Scheherazade. ... I wanted to become an existentialist like Simone de Beauvoir or Françoise Sagan, and I wanted to be somewhere [other] than my neighborhood. I thought I was more modern than everyone around me. ... "When I started publishing, [in] every single review, they would call me the new Scheherazade, the new Scheherazade. And I used to think, 'Oh, it is a cliché. Why would they do that? I don't like Scheherazade.' ... And then ...

director Tim Supple in England, he asked me if I [was] willing to adapt stories from One Thousand and One Nights for the theater. And, of course, this is when I sat and read ... three editions in Arabic." On how she saw Scheherazade differently after reading the stories "I fell in love with her because I thought she was the first feminist. Second, because she was a philosopher, an artist, a writer, and she was trying through literature to humanize the king and men around her." On how she chose which stories to include in her retelling "It was so difficult because every time I read a story, I said, 'That's it. I'm in love with this story.' And then I felt that I was plunging in[to] a sea of jewels and I couldn't really choose very easily. And then [Tim Supple] and I thought that we should find a theme [and] a plot. And, of course, for all the stories the theme was women were wily and men were oppressive, in a way. So we thought it should be a war between the two sexes.

And I chose stories where women depended completely on being crafty and manipulative in order to survive." Hanan al-Shaykh's other books include The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh and The Locust and the Bird. Mick Lindberg/Courtesy of Pantheon hide caption toggle caption Mick Lindberg/Courtesy of Pantheon Hanan al-Shaykh's other books include The Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh and The Locust and the Bird. Mick Lindberg/Courtesy of Pantheon On whether Scheherazade was always viewed as a heroine "No, not at all. All of us, especially educated Arab women, would say, 'No, do you think I am Scheherazade? A slave sitting and telling you stories so you won't kill me?' This is how we thought about Scheherazade at the beginning. One Thousand and One Nights ... wasn't looked at as ... Arabic literary heritage. People thought it was vulgar; they thought it was very bad literature — it's not literature, it's folk tales and nothing else.

But then everything changed." On why sexuality is so essential to One Thousand and One Nights "People at that time didn't think, 'Oh, this is forbidden. We shouldn't be talking about sexuality.' We should be talking about all aspects of life, and one aspect of life is sexuality. ... "I'd like every single Arab to read One Thousand and One Nights. They [would] learn a lot from them, especially [because] these stories were written away from the influence of religion. It's interesting to see how we were open, how we had a dialogue with each other, how we wanted to understand, how we respected each other. There was a great dignity, and I'd like this to be restored again." One Thousand and One Nights One Thousand and One Nights Once upon a time, there was a great king, who had his reign from Persia to Arabia. The king had two sons named Shahryar and Shah Zaman. After the death of the king, Shahryar the elder son ascended on the throne of Baghdad. Whereas the younger son, Shah Zaman ruled over Samarkand. Both the brothers ruled their respective kingdoms with wisdom and justice.

They were loved and respected by their subjects.Thoroughly busy with their administrative responsibilities, the two brothers could not meet each other for twenty long years. Shahryar had a long crave to see his beloved brother. So one day, he sent his Wazir with a letter and numerous splendid gifts to his younger brother Shah Zaman. In his letter to his brother, Shahryar expressed his earnest desire to see him. After days of long journey through the deserts, the Wazir reached the court of Samarkand. He presented the letter and gifts to the king. The warmth of the letter sent by his beloved brother Shahryar, made him jubilant. He became nostalgic remembering his elder brother. Shah Zaman at once accepted the invitation. He decided to go to Baghdad to see his brother. Shah Zaman requested the Wazir to stay in Samarkand as a royal guest for three days. Meanwhile, Shah Zaman collected a good number of rich gifts for his brother and asked his officers to make the necessary preparation for the long journey. Shah Zaman was ecstatic at thethought of meeting his brother. On the fourth day, he had to leave for Baghdad.

However just before leaving for Baghdad, Shah Zaman chanced to witness the unfaithfulness of his wife. Shah Zaman saw his wife expressing her love to one of her slaves. Raged and shocked by the unimaginable sight, Shah Zaman took out his sword and chopped off his wife’s head at once. Shah Zaman loved his wife very much. The incident had shattered him. Immediately after the incident, he set out for Baghdad. But all his happiness had vanished. He was thoroughly grief stricken. The sorrow and bitterness turned Shah Zaman pale and weak. When Shah Zaman reached Baghdad, Shahryar gave him a warm and splendid welcome. The brothers hugged each other passionately. However, the grief stricken pale look of Shah Zaman worried the elder brother Shahryar. When the two brothers sat all alone, Shahryar asked, “Dear brother! Your pale and grieved look is worrying me. What’s ailing you?” Shah Zaman hid his distress and made an excuse. He said, “Dear brother, I’m not at all worried. The long and tiring journey is the culprit. I’m quite hale and hearty.” However, Shahryar was not convinced with the reply.

So he called the royal physician and asked him to treat his brother. The physician tried various medicines one after another. However, all the medicines and other treatments went in vain. Shah Zaman’s condition did not improve. Most of the time, he would live quietly in the palace and refuse to enjoy different flavours of the life. One day, Shahryar chalked out a plan for hunting and invited his brother to accompany him. But Shah Zaman showed his unwillingness and chose to stay home. In the absence of his brother, Shah Zaman witnessed the similar sight. which had shattered him. His brother’s wife was also unfaithful and wicked. She too was involved with one of her slaves and desired to marry him. This shocking incident proved wonder remedy for Shah Zaman. He overcame from his sorrow. He thought, “I’m not the only one who has unfaithful wife. There are many others like me.” The incident strengthened his belief that women are evil, wicked and unfaithful. The fact that he was not the only unlucky man who was cheated by his wife, but was one among many unfortunates, helped him in recovering fast.

When Shahryar returned from his hunting trip, he found his brother hale and hearty. Shahryar was very happy to see his brother cheerful. Later on, Shah Zaman disclosed to Shahryar what he had witnessed in his absence. Shah Zaman also unearthed the ugly secret behind his pale and shattered condition. Mad out of anger, Shahryar at once rushed to his wife and chopped off her head. The angry Shahryar then took a wild oath, “Everyday I’ll marry a maiden for a night. Next day, early in the morning, she will be killed. This way, I will never provide any opportunity to my wife to betray me.” After few days, Shah Zaman returned to his kingdom. Shahryar remained adamant on his insane oath. He called his Wazir and apprised him about his oath. Shahryar said, “You have to bring one young maiden everyday and make her my bride for the evening. Make sure that she will be killed in the morning.” The king’s cruel and crazy oath astonished everyone. People were frightened but what they could do. The cruel practice started. Each morning a young beautiful maiden was hacked to death. It went like this for years.

Parents of the young girls started fleeing from the kingdom. Soon the kingdom was totally bereft of young girls. One day, the Wazir returned home anxious. The Wazir had two beautiful daughters named Shahrazad and Dinarazad. Shahrazad, the elder daughter was exceptionally wise, humble and soft spoken. Besides this, she was a voracious reader and a learned person. When Shahrazad noticed her father’s tensed and perturbed face, she asked, “Father, you are looking unusually disturbed. What’s the reason for your worry?” The Wazir said, “Dear daughter, the king has ordered me to bring a bride for tonight. However, not a single young girl is left there in our kingdom now. Shaken by the possible death, all the parents of the young girls had left the kingdom with their daughters. Now if I go to the king without any bride, he will chop off my head for not obeying his order.” Shahrazad said, “Father, please don’t worry! Take me to the king as his bride.” Astonished to hear this, the Wazir exclaimed, “How can I do this?

Don’t you know what end do the king’s brides meet?” Shahrazad said calmly, “I’m fully aware of what fate the brides meet, my dear father! Even then, I emphasize you to produce me as the king’s bride. I am confident that my wisdom, will force the king to change his thought regarding women. In case I fail to do so, I’ll have a satisfaction of dying for a good cause.” However, the argument laid by Shahrazad was not at all acceptable to the Wazir. He was not ready to send his daughter to meet such a cruel fate. He said angrily, “If you will not obey me, you will have to face the same misfortune, which was faced by the farm owner, the master of the bull and the donkey.” Shahrazad asked, “O father, what’s the tale of the farm owner?” The Wazir began the tale. 21 Responses to “One Thousand and One Nights” Steven Mace: One Thousand and One Nights; or, The Arabian Nights Horror, Fantasy, Thriller and Speculative Fiction author. Short story writer, novelist.

Author of "Staccato House", "Echoes and Exiles"; "The Splendour of Shadows"; "Beyond Twilight"; "The Pirate Princess" and "Copper Moon Rising" Wednesday, 4 December 2013 One Thousand and One Nights; or, The Arabian Nights The One Thousand and One Nights, popularly known as The Arabian Nights , is a composite work compiled from Middle Eastern and Indian folklore during the first millennium AD. In its earliest form, its origin was in tales from India and Persia, and then Arab tales were added to it- most of them dating from the period of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Many of these stories are based around the adventures of the Caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid and his vizier (advisor) Ja'far the Barmecide . ( Harun al-Rashid was an actual historic figure, although his real-life vizier was Ja'far's father, Yahya .

The real Ja'far was mysteriously executed, although it was possibly for an affair with the caliph's sister.) Then later, more folk tales from Syria and Egypt have been added to create as many stories in the Arabian Nights to fill up over a thousand nights. I've read the Penguin Classics English Translation by Malcolm C.Lyons and Ursula Lyons, with an introduction and annotations by Robert Irwin. The most famous stories from the Nights that most people would immediately recognise are Aladdin and the Magic Lamp; Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves; and the Seven Voyages of Sindbad . The Nights have had a huge influence on Western literature and the arts due to their imaginative appeal and the attraction of the exotic, or the Oriental- from novels and film to Disney cartoons ( Aladdin ) and video games ( Prince of Persia ). These stories have this in common with children's fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm , which gave us Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Tom Thumb. As we enter the Christmas pantomime season, Aladdin, along with Cinderella, is a popular pantomime story.

The frame story for the entire One Thousand and One Nights collection is that the Princess Shahrazad (also spelt as Scheherazade) tells a vast number of tales to King Shahriyar to postpone her execution. Every day Shahriyar would marry a new virgin, and every day he would send yesterday's wife to be executed by beheading. This was done in anger, a form of misogynistic revenge after he found out that his first wife was unfaithful to him. He had killed over a thousand such women by the time he was introduced to Shahrazad, the daughter of his vizier. Shahrazad asks to spend the night with the King, and on the first night begins her first tale. At dawn, she breaks off from her story, and asks permission to be allowed to finish it on the following night. Enraptured by her tale, the King grants her request and so the next night she finishes her story and begins a new one, which she also leaves unfinished by dawn- keeping herself alive by the process. This is the premise for the continuation of the tales.

Stories stand alone, or are part of a cycle; often they are set in a framework of stories-within-stories as storytellers beget further storytellers. There are a vast array of characters (from beggars and caliphs, to barbers and sultans) and locations (caves, underground chambers, mountain peaks, castles, palaces, deserts; the cities of Cairo, Baghdad, Basra) within the Nights, and a broad range of genres: romance, comedy, heroic, supernatural, fantasy, didactic, religious parable and even science fiction, as I will explain. In my mind, the Nights conjure stories of terrifying turbaned genies (jinnis); magic lamps and flying carpets; warriors leading vast armies; mysterious veiled women; horse-riding Bedouins crossing the sand dunes of endless deserts; towering minarets by twilight beneath a Persian moon; Sindbad encountering weird sea monsters upon his epic voyages; crafty merchants selling their wares at crowded markets.

The Nights does not disappoint, it is all of these and more- there are tales of beautiful princesses and handsome princes; locked doors which must not be opened; genies (jinni) and demons (ifrits); sorcerers and magic; clever thieves; disastrous shipwrecks and treks across mountains and deserts. There are also fantastic, mythical monsters such as the Rukh ( roc in English): a giant bird which is so huge it can carry an elephant. The end result of such a variety of stories is a fascinating literary melting pot of Arab, Persian and Indian culture. I have already mentioned Harun al-Rashid, the caliph of Baghdad and his vizier Ja'far the Barmecide. In modern adaptations of Arabian Nights stories, such as Disney's Aladdin and the video game Prince of Persia, Ja'far has become a sinister and malevolent figure. Although there are evil viziers, malicious sorcerers and frightening jinni aplenty within the Nights, Ja'far is a much more benevolent character in the original tales. He is a trusted adviser to the Caliph, who is a master of disguise.

Al-Rashid likes to go abroad in his city of Baghdad at night, for the purpose of seeking out adventures or so that he may hear tales from others dwelling within the city, beyond the bounds of his palace. Obviously there are close to a thousand tales that I could describe, but I wanted to focus on a small collection of stories that I found most interesting. It is the stories with fantasy and supernatural elements that I most enjoy in the Arabian Nights, and while there are plenty of these there are several which stand out in particular. There is the story of Ali the Cairene merchant, which is a very early example of a "haunted house" tale, as well as being typical of the many stories within the Arabian Nights describing a character experiencing poverty, who through luck or supernatural means, rapidly gains a fortune. In Ali's case he has been a spendthrift who has wasted his money. After reducing his family to poverty, Ali abandons them in search of better luck, and travels to Baghdad. After pretending his goods have been stolen, a fellow merchant takes pity on Ali.

He gives him a choice of houses to stay in- but the one that Ali chooses is apparently haunted and cursed, and whoever stays there is always found dead the next morning. In a suicide bid, Ali insists he must stay there. In the middle of the night, a disembodied voice speaks to him and says that it has been waiting for him. It asks him if it should send down the gold, and when Ali responds to ask where it is, gold coins pour out on the floor from nowhere. As it turns out, the spirit inhabiting the house was waiting for him especially, and it was Ali's destiny to receive the blessings of this good fortune since 'ancient times'. Previous occupants of the house were too terrified to answer, and so the spirit killed them. Ali then seeks out his family again and invites them to share in his new-found wealth. Another interesting story and a good example of a 'fantasy' tale within the Arabian Nights is the story of Abd Allah of the Land and Abd Allah of the Sea. This is about a secret world of water-folk living in the depths of the sea and oceans, a marine civilisation.

Abd Allah of the Land is a poor fisherman with a large family to feed, whose only possession is a large fishing net. He is in debt to the baker for food for his family, but every day he takes his net to the sea and catches nothing, until one day he catches a merman in his net, who tells him that his name is also Abd Allah- Abd Allah of the Sea. The fisherman agrees to let the merman go, who in return agrees to be his friend and brings him precious jewels from the bottom of the ocean, which make Abd Allah of the Land rich. Then the merman invites him to visit his people in the sea, giving the fisherman a magic ointment which allows him to walk underneath the waves and within the water without drowning. The water-folk are fascinated by, and laugh at, Abd Allah of the Land because he doesn't have a tail. At the end of the story the fisherman is abandoned by his strange friend because 'land people' mourn when someone dies- the water-folk celebrate a death, because life is only one transitory stage and God 'has taken back his deposit'.

The Adventures of Buluqiya, as told to Hasib Karim al-Din by the Snake Queen, gives an insight into Islamic cosmology: Earth's place within the universe is explained by the existence of the following-there is Mount Qaf, which is the mountain at the end of the world and which encircles the Earth, where King Solomon sleeps with a magic ring on his finger; beyond it there is The White Land, where the Muslim jinni fight the Unbeliever Jinni; there are Seven layers of Hell, separated by a thousand-year journey (Jahannam, where Muslims who disobey God's command and die without repenting are sent; Lazan, for the Unbelievers; Jahim- for Gog and Magog, evil monsters or demons; Al-Sa'ir- for the hordes of Satan; Saqar- for those who abandon prayer; al-Hutama - for Jews and Christians; and the seventh, al-Hawiya, for hypocrites.

Hell consists of vast lands of fire and castles, filled with countless torments); The Angel Michael controls the succession of day and night, and behind Qaf there is a mountain range of snow and ice stretching the distance of a five hundred year journey, protecting the world from the fires of hell; beyond that there are forty lands each with their own Angels, part of seven layers held up by another Angel, who is set on a Rock. Beneath the Rock there is a Bull, which is resting on a Fish. Beneath the Fish there is an Ocean, and beneath that a huge region of Air. Below that there is a giant snake called Falaq, who would devour and swallow everything were it not for its fear of God. Most interestingly of all, I mentioned earlier that there were stories in the Nights that could almost be put into the science fiction genre. There are three in particular that deserve a closer look. The first of these is the Third Dervish's Tale (also known as the Third Qalander's 's Tale). He describes his experiences of being shipwrecked on the 'Magnetic Mountain', an island of "black stone", where "God Almighty has set a secret power that attracts everything made of iron".

Also, "by the shore there is a vaulted dome of brass set on ten columns and on top of this is a rider and his horse, both made of brass" This rider kills all who comes his way. Later on in the Dervish's Tale, there is also a boatman constructed of brass, who automatically rows silently across the sea, "with a lead tablet on his breast, inscribed with names and talismans". Both descriptions sound like metallic/clockwork automata, or 'robots'. The Dervish eventually finds himself in a palace with forty girls, the daughters of Kings. There are thirty-nine chambers he may enter, but a fortieth that he must never go into. The women allow him to stay at the palace while they are away, but he must not open the fortieth door. Eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him and he enters the fortieth chamber. He finds a strange 'black horse' which he sits on, and when he strikes it, it issues a neigh like 'rumbling thunder' and flies off with him, carrying him up into the sky. It sounds more like a flying aircraft than an actual horse.

When it finally lands on the roof of another building, its 'tail' accidently strikes the Dervish and causes him to lose an eye. This idea occurs again in the second story in the Nights that I wanted to focus on, which is called The Ebony Horse. Wise men bring gifts to a King and his son, and the third of them brings a 'horse' made of ebony and ivory. "When a man mounts it, it will take him to whatever land he wants." A screw or 'button' makes it rise into the air. The prince "started to examine all parts of the horses body...there was a protuberance like a cock's comb on its right shoulder and another on its left." When he touches these features, the climb takes him far above the ground or allows him to descend again. Again, it appears that the "Ebony Horse" is some sort of electronic flying craft. Bearing in mind that these stories were created and compiled in the early centuries of the first millennium AD, from the period of the Romans to the Vikings in European history, these details are really interesting. Keeping with the theme of brass, the final intriguing story in the Arabian Nights with science fiction elements is The City of Brass.

Two characters, Musa and Abd al-Samad, go in search of the city, where King Solomon allegedly trapped jinni (genies) in brass bottles. While travelling across the desert, they encounter a giant brass figure who points in the right direction of the city after a button is pressed. On the way there, they then encounter a strange figure- a trapped entity- imprisoned within a pillar half-buried in the sand. This being speaks to them and also confirms they are heading in the right direction of the city. When they and their retinue arrive at the City of Brass, they find peculiar relics and odd devices, remnants of some ancient science. I was also reminded of the Shelley poem "Ozymandias" after reading this particular story, with the echoes of a once-great civilisation. There are preserved corpses in the chambers of the city, including one of a beautiful woman with her eyeballs removed and the sockets filled with quicksilver to give the impression her eyes are moving, and that she is still alive. There are non-speaking brass figures which again appear to be depictions of clockwork automata or robots.

These kill Musa and Abd al-Samad's companion Talib when he wants to steal treasure from the city. Finally, one more interesting story from the Nights which is worth looking at is The Slave Girl Tawaddud, which is an interesting mini-encyclopaedia of scientific/religious/scholarly thought and knowledge in Persian/Arabian culture during this period. The Thousand and One Arabian Nights - Literary Synopsis Literary Synopsis The Thousand and One Arabian Nights Plot The Arabian Nights (The Thousand and One Nights, or The Thousand Nights and One Night) is a collection of Arabic short stories. The story starts with a king, Shahzaman, whose wife has committed adultery with a kitchen boy. He kills both of them and declares that he shall leave immediately for his brother’s kingdom in India. Shahzaman gets to the palace of his brother, Shahrayar. While he is in his brother’s home, he grows sickly and pale because of his internal demons. He is king but he cannot protect or keep what is his. His brother invites him on a hunt, but he declines, staying in the palace with his grief.

Then he witnesses his brother’s wife, paramours, and concubines fraternizing with the black slave boys. He realizes that his misfortune is not uncommon, and he “finds consolations in his own affliction and forgets his grief.” After Shahrayar gets back from the hunt, Shahzaman eventually tells him about his wife, and he would like to see this with his own eyes. They sneak out, under the guise of another hunt, but go back into the city to catch his wife with the black slave. Realizing the truth of the matter, the brothers decide to go on a journey. On this journey, they cross the path of a demon’s wife, who commands them to sleep with her, bringing her total to one hundred men she has slept with while entrapped in the horrible marriage of the demon. She showed the brothers that a woman’s cunning will get her what she wants. They travel back to their cities, and Shahrayar has a plan in mind to outwit a woman’s cunning wiles. When Shahrayar returns he puts his wife to death, then he orders his vizier to find a daughter of a prince.

He marries her, and then kills her the next morning, before any harm can befall him. Shahrayar continues this for many days, until the people call for a plague upon the head of their king. However, the vizier has two daughters. Shahrazad has been well educated and is knowledgeable. With a plan in mind, she requests that her father marry her to the king. Her father, the vizier, tells her the story of the donkey and the ox, stating that her miscalculation will be the end of her. Then when she insists to be wed to the king, he threatens with the story of the Merchant and His Wife to beat her. She still requests. The vizier goes before the king, telling him that his daughter would like to marry him. They are wed, and that night Shahrazad requests that she say good bye to her sister before her death in the morning. The king agrees and sends for Dinarzad, who requests a story from her sister before she sleeps. With the king’s permission she starts the story of the Merchant and the Demon, but does not finish due to sunrise and sleep. As morning overtakes her, her audience is intrigued by her story.

She states “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live?” Due to his curiosity, she is not put to death, but the next night continues the story. She does this for one thousand and one nights. At the end, the king accepts her as his queen, having learned many lessons about life from her stories. Symbols Every story told by Shahrazad is symbolic. The merchant and the demon is representative of her plight of being unjustly killed. The stories that her father, the vizier, tell her in the beginning are illustrating to her the severity of the repercussions of her actions. The main symbol in the story has little literary influence, but it has a sociological influence. The ideal that Shahrazad has influenced a man of such power in a male dominated society, such as the Middle East, is one even modern day women hold onto. The Arabian Nights: One Thousand and One Nights Summary | GradeSaver The Arabian Nights: One Thousand and One Nights Summary The Arabian Nights: One Thousand and One Nights Buy Study Guide The Arabian Nights is a collection of tales from the Islamic Golden Age, compiled by various authors over many hundreds of years.

Though each collection features different stories, they are all centered around the frame story of the sultan Shahrayar and his wife, Scheherazade . After finding out that his first wife is unfaithful, Shahrayar kills her and swears to marry a different woman each night before killing her the following morning to prevent further betrayal. Scheherazade, his vizier's daughter, concocts a plan to end this pattern. She marries Shahrayar, and then begins to tell him a story that night. However, she stops the story in the middle, so that he will be excited to hear the rest the following night. The next evening, she finishes that story and then begins another, following the same pattern for 1,001 nights, until Shahrayar has a change of heart. The stories she tells comprise the collection. " Aladdin 's Lamp" tells of a peasant boy who is tricked by an evil magician into retrieving a magic genie lamp from a cave. However, Aladdin outsmarts him, keeping the lamp for himself. Through the genie's power, Aladdin grows rich and marries the sultan's daughter.

When the magician steals the lamp back, Aladdin and his wife thwart and kill the villain. The magician's brother then attempts to avenge the dead man, but is equally defeated, so that Aladdin lives happily ever after. In " Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," hardworking Ali Baba stumbles upon a thieves' hideout full of treasure, protected by a magic entry. When Ali Baba accidentally reveals the secret to his richer brother Cassim , Cassim gets trapped in the hideout, and killed by the thieves. The villains then try to track down and kill Ali Baba, but their plans are consistently thwarted by the quick-witted slave Morgiana . In "The Three Apples," a fisherman finds a chest in the ocean containing a woman's body. Both her father and her husband try to take the blame, but the caliph discerns that the husband had killed her, believing her unfaithful. He had brought her three rare apples when she was sick, then got mad when he saw a slave with one of the apples, claiming he had received the fruit from his girlfriend. Believing the slave, he killed the woman.

He then learned that his son had actually given the apple to the slave, who then lied to stir up trouble. The ruler's vizier Ja'far ascertains that his own slave is the culprit, and the caliph pardons everyone. "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor" are told by a famous sailor to an impoverished porter, to explain the trials and tribulations that the sailor suffered at sea. Over the course of his seven voyages, Sinbad faced: various shipwrecks; strange beasts such as giant eagles, rocs, and giants; malicious figures such as the Old Man of the Sea ; and many other obstacles. Even though he dealt with danger on every voyage, Sinbad continued to sail, lured by the thrill and excitement of the sea. Finally, after seven voyages, he decided to settle down with his wealth. "The Fisherman and the Jinni" tells the story of a fisherman whose nets retrieve a yellow jar from the sea. He opens it to release a dangerous genie, who has been trapped for hundreds of years and had decided to kill the man who rescues him.

The fisherman tricks the genie into returning to the jar, and then tells him the story of "The Vizier and the Sage Duban ," detailed below. After the story, the genie promises to reward the fisherman, and indeed shows him a magic lake full of strange fish. The fisherman sells the fish to the sultan, who explores the area of the lake to meet a sad prince who had been turned half to stone. He helps the prince, and then rewards everyone involved. In "The Vizier and the Sage Duban," a wise healer named Duban heals King Yunan 's leprosy, but Yunan's vizier convinces the king that Duban is out to kill him. Yunan has Duban executed on that suspicion, and Duban gifts him a magic book before he dies. After the wise man is beheaded, the king flips through the book, and then dies himself from a poison that Duban has left on its pages. Finally, "The Three Princes and the Princes Nouronnihar " details the journeys of three brother princes who each wants to marry their cousin Nouronnihar.

Their father, the Grand Sultan, promises that whichever brother finds the most valuable item will win the woman's hand. They each find amazing items - a magic carpet that transports its owner, a tube that shows whatever the viewer wishes, and an apple that heals anyone. When the brothers learn that Nouronnihar is ill, they pool the items and manage to save her life.

Question: Who is the storyteller in the 'One Thousand and One Nights'?
Answer: Scheherazade